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April’s nostrils flared. “You know I don’t need money.”
“Then I guess we don’t have anything more to say to each other.”
April finally realized she’d been beaten and pushed her trembling hands in the pockets of her jeans. “Sure. Enjoy the place.”
Blue couldn’t bear watching April’s heartbreaking attempt to hold on to her dignity. Even as she told herself this wasn’t her affair, the unplanned, ill-advised words came spilling out.
“Dean, your mother is dying.”
Chapter Five
April’s lips parted in shock. Dean stiffened. “What are you talking about?”
Blue had sort of meant it figuratively—that April was dying inside—but Dean didn’t seem to be in a figurative turn of mind. She never should have spoken. But, honestly, how could things get any worse?
She came slowly down the stairs. “Your mother—The, uh, doctors—” She tried to put it together. “There’s this hole in her heart. Your mother’s dying, but she doesn’t want you to know.”
April’s blue-gray eyes widened.
Blue reached the bottom and curled her fingers around the banister. Okay, so maybe she’d gone a tiny bit overboard, but when it came to maternal relationships, she was too screwed up to be held accountable.
Dean’s complexion had grown ashen. He gazed at his mother. “Is this true?”
April’s lips moved, but no sound came out. Blue’s grip on the rail tightened. Finally, April’s throat muscles began to work, and she swallowed. “It…might not be fatal.”
“But the doctors aren’t making any promises,” Blue said quickly.
Dean shot Blue a hard look. “How do you know about this?”
How indeed? “I don’t think your mother meant to tell me, but she had sort of a…ini-breakdown up here.”
April took offense. “I didn’t have a breakdown. Mini or not. I just…dropped my defenses for a second.”
Blue regarded her sadly. “So brave.”
April shot her a lethal glare. “I don’t want to talk about this, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t talk about it, either.”
“I apologize for breaking your confidence, but it seemed cruel not to tell him.”
“It’s not his problem,” April shot back.
If Blue had harbored any hope that Dean would instantly take his mother in his arms and tell her the time had come to work out their differences, he quickly disillusioned her by stalking out the front door. As his footsteps faded, Blue fixed a chipper expression on her face. “I think that went well, don’t you? All things considered.”
April did everything but lunge for her throat. “You’re a lunatic!”
Blue took a quick step backward. “Yet you’re still here.”
April threw up her hands, bangles jingling, rings flashing. “You’ve made everything worse.”
“Frankly, it didn’t look like things could get much worse. But then, I’m not the one with a hotel reservation in Nashville tomorrow night, so I might be missing something.”
The Vanquish’s engine roared to life, and the tires spun in the gravel. Some of the fire left April. “He’s going out to celebrate. Free drinks for everybody in the bar.”
“And I thought I had a twisted relationship with my mother.”
April’s eyes narrowed. “Who are you, anyway?”
Blue hated questions like this. Virginia would have answered that she was a child of God, but Blue doubted the Almighty was all that anxious to claim Virginia’s daughter right now. And explaining about Monty and the beaver costume wouldn’t exactly be putting her best foot forward. Fortunately, April had come up with her own explanation.
